Combining ultrasound and MRI, neurosurgeons in Switzerland successfully eliminated small sections of brain tissue that were causing chronic pain in nine patients-without opening the skull.  Unlike ultrasound used in prenatal imaging, High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is able to ablate tissue, and this already has been done for eliminating uterine fibroids and kidney stones. Now, however, it is being used for brain surgery-relying on more than a thousand transducers, each of which can be focused on a specific spot (similar to a Gamma knife), thereby raising the temperature at a specific location (about 10 cubic millimeters) to 130 degrees F.    MORE

Image Credit: University Children’s Hospital Zurich and Technology Review